Dr Callen
by LostForeverInHisEyes
Summary: /Summer 2010 Challenge/ Dom's dead and the team is losing it. Callen needs to fix them so he can be free to lose it too. What does he have to do to get the team back on track, especially when Nate goes away? Set directly after Found, before Hunted.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N - Thanks to angelprincesslilac for beta'ing and issuing such a great challenge in the Summer 2010 Challenge and for approving this story for it!_

_Disclaimer - don't own anything recognisable as NCIS LA. Just having fun.  
_

**Part 1**

Callen watched his team as they started to pack up for the night. It had been a rough couple of weeks between finding and losing Dom, the funeral, and then the entire team losing it. But he indulged in a self-satisfied smile because, somehow, he had managed to pull them all back from the brink. He knew that he couldn't lose it himself, with everyone else falling apart. So he had needed to fix them first.

He was particularly pleased with winning one over on Hetty. She'd been the first he'd gone after. He'd had no choice after he found out about her potential resignation. He'd had to pull out all the stops to save the boss who held them all together—who was the glue behind this bunch of talented misfits he called a team. He had originally planned to go after Nate first. If Nate were fixed, he could take over. Nate hadn't been after any of them to talk since the day they'd lost Dom and that, well, that just wasn't Nate. Nate _not_ trying to get into their heads was just wrong. But he had missed his chance. He had watched Nate leave the office one lunch time, thinking he'd corner him when he got back. When he wasn't back half an hour later (for Nate never took a full hour lunch break) he had gone to Hetty. She told him Nate was taking some personal time and would be back in a week or two.

After Hetty, he'd gone after Eric, because well, simply, without Eric on the ball, gathering Intel was pretty tough. He had to admit, however, getting Eric back on track had been fun. A little more of a drain on his computer gaming skills than he had anticipated, though. Usually he'd wake up at the first sign of someone coming into the office, but the morning after that gaming session, having stayed up until at least 4 a.m. with Eric, he just hadn't heard anyone. He had eventually woken up to the smell of coffee and Hetty standing over him. Not his favourite way to wake up; though her having his favourite doughnut, as well as some coffee, helped to get his heart rate back down.

Next he'd tackled Kensi. Not literally, but he couldn't stand her throwing herself at any guy who moved just so she could forget what happened to Dom. He wasn't going to let her self-destruct. Not on his watch. He'd been hard on her and he'd paid a price, but it had been worth it to see the old Kensi come back to them.

Then had come Sam. Sam hadn't been as tough as he'd been expecting. Which was good, because he really didn't enjoy holding ice packs to his face.

Nate had finally returned to work today. After seeing the difference in the team, and having obviously spoken with Hetty, Nate stopped by Callen's desk.

"You trying to do me out of a job, Callen?" Nate asked.

"Nope. Don't like being in my own head, why would I want to get into anyone else's?" Callen joked, knowing that he did that all the time, just not in the same way as Nate.

"You did a good job. At least I know if I go away again, there's someone here to fill my shoes," Nate said, starting to move away.

"Sorry, Nate, you shoes are way too big for me," Callen replied.

Nate just smiled and continued on his way.

"Nate," Callen called.

"What?" Nate replied, pausing.

"Did you have a good vacation?" Callen asked.

"Yes, I did," Nate replied, as he looked back at Callen.

"Good. Don't do it again. We missed you. Don't tell Hetty I said that," Callen said.

"Why would he, Mr. Callen, when I have heard it with my own ears?" Hetty asked.

"Thought you'd gone home, Hetty?" Callen asked, looking at the small woman as she gave him smile that he was sure had something to do with the pleasure she got when she caught any of them by surprise. A smile that was on her face way more than it should be, at least as far as he was concerned.

"On my way now, Mr. Callen," Hetty said, "Goodnight."

"Night, Hetty," said Nate, then he turned to Callen. "Night, Callen."

"Night Nate," Callen replied as he thought back over the last week, and what he'd had to do to pull his team back together.

~O~O~

_A/N - coming up, just what did he have to do to sort out Hetty_


	2. Chapter 2  Callen Vs Hetty

_A/N - Thanks for the reviews and alerts_. _Really appreciated.  
_

_Disclaimer in Chapter 1 _

**_Callen vs Hetty _**

"What can I do for you, Mr. Callen?" asked Hetty.

"Tell me what this is about," Callen said, putting a piece of paper on her desk.

"It's a resignation letter," Hetty replied, after glancing at it briefly.

"Yes. Yours," Callen said, watching Hetty carefully.

"Yes," Hetty replied simply.

"Why?" Callen asked, taking a seat and settling back. He figured this could take a while, so he might as well get comfortable.

"Because I am resigning," Hetty said, looking over her fingertips at him.

"Like hell," said Callen, holding her gaze.

"Excuse me," said Hetty, sitting up a little straighter. It didn't make her much taller, but it certainly gave off the impression that it did.

"No, Hetty. You can't leave, I won't let you," Callen said, shaking his head, smiling at her.

"You have no choice, Mr. Callen," Hetty replied, giving him one of those looks that she gave when she knew she was right and he was wrong. Only this time he didn't back down.

"I always have a choice, Hetty. I choose not to lose you," Callen said, still holding her gaze.

"It's done," Hetty said, being the first to look away. Callen smiled slightly over the small win. It gave him hope.

"No, it's not. The director hasn't accepted it yet," Callen said. Hetty looked back at him quickly, her gaze narrowing on him.

"What have you done, Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked in a tone that implied she was getting very impatient with her agent.

"Hetty, who do you think they could get to replace you? Who would put up with Sam and I being late so often? Technically, we both probably should have been fired by now, but you never make it official," Callen said, starting his attack. He would get her to change her mind, and he wasn't leaving this chair until she did.

"You make up the time, eventually," Hetty replied, starting to look through the paperwork on her desk.

"True, but who else is going to let us get away with all the crap we pull in between cases to let off steam?" Callen asked her.

Hetty looked up at him but didn't reply, so he continued.

"Who else is going to let me get away with sleeping on the couch more often than I sleep at my own place?" Callen asked.

"At least I know you are getting some sleep," Hetty replied.

"Who else is going to put up with Eric chewing up the power for his late night gaming sessions on the big screen, or the way he dresses?" Callen asked.

"It will be an improvement if someone can get him to wear decent attire," Hetty replied.

"You know that's not going to happen. Eric would rather quit than have to dress in 'work clothes,' and we can't have Eric quitting, can we? Not now that we've broken him in to the way we work," Callen said.

"Eric won't quit," Hetty replied confidently.

"Maybe, maybe not. What about Kensi? Who else is going to help her cover for the nights she doesn't go home? I can't see anyone else letting her raid the wardrobe on a daily basis. Especially at the moment. Just how many sets of clothes from the wardrobe department does she have at her place? Five? Six?" asked Callen.

"Eight, actually," Hetty replied. Eight? He really should get a move on fixing Kensi. He hadn't realised it was that high. He turned his focus back to Hetty.

"And Sam. I've never known anyone except you, who could come up with a reasonable explanation on why we have gone through seven punching bags in the last week and still manage to have upper management replace them by the next morning, no questions asked. What will Sam do if he doesn't have his punching bag?" Callen asked her.

"Perhaps he will have to find another," Hetty added, looking directly at him, suggesting he might fit the bill.

"Hetty, we need you. Not someone else. You. Without you, we're just a bunch of rebels with no one to pull us into line on the odd time that we need it. You are as much a part of this team as the rest of us," Callen said, hoping to convince her.

"Mr. Callen, my resignation stands. I cannot lose another agent on my watch," Hetty said.

"Fine," Callen said, tossing his letter onto her table. Hetty looked up at him, shocked.

"What is this, Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked, almost the same question he had asked her earlier.

"My resignation," Callen replied. This was his last card, the one he had hoped not to have to play.

"I cannot accept this," Hetty replied.

"Why not?" Callen asked, trying not to smile. This was what he wanted.

"You are too talented to lose, Mr. Callen. This agency needs you," Hetty replied. Perfect.

"Right back at ya, Hetty," Callen said. Hetty looked at him, he looked at her and neither of them said a word. He wasn't going to back down on this one. Eventually, Hetty pursued her lips, trying not to smile; he watched as she picked up both resignation letters and put them into the small shredder that was beside her desk.

"Back to work, Mr. Callen," Hetty said after the last piece of paper had disappeared through the blades.

"You too, Hetty," Callen said as he turned and left her office space, a triumphant smile on his face only after he had turned away.

"I saw that, Mr. Callen," Hetty said, which only increased his good mood. Hetty was back.

Now, who next?

_A/N - Just how much did Eric push Callen's gaming skills - That's next._


	3. Chapter 3 Callen Vs Eric

_A/N - Thanks for all the reviews and alerts_

_Disclaimer in Chapter 1  
_

**Callen Vs Eric**

_Eric_

"Still here, Eric?" asked Callen as he walked in on Eric playing computer games. It was the same night as his successful run-in with Hetty, so he was still on a high and decided to see what he could do with Eric.

"Yep," Eric said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Want some company?" Callen said.

That got Eric's attention. Callen rarely played these sorts of games.

"You want to play?" Eric asked.

"What? Don't think I can do it?" Callen asked, as he settled himself on a seat.

"You've played this before?" Eric asked.

"Nope, but you can teach me," Callen said, at least, hopefully. Otherwise, tonight could be a very bad night that he may never live down. But if it got Eric back to work properly, he would suffer willingly.

Eric looked at him for a moment, before he tossed him another controller and restarted the game.

After five hours, Callen needed a break. He also thought it was probably about time he actually talked to Eric.

"So Eric, when are you going to move back to your own place?" Callen asked.

"What?" Eric replied.

"I'm missing my couch. Starting to think that maybe I might need to ask Hetty to get you one for in here." Callen said. There had been a few times when he had gone to grab some sleep on couch, only to hear Eric still upstairs and decided he'd better go back to his place instead.

"I'm not here that often," Eric said.

"Yes, you are. Why?" Callen asked.

Eric looked at him but didn't answer. Something clicked in Callen's mind.

"You're staying so you don't miss anything," Callen said.

Eric looked away.

"You think if you'd been here, we'd have saved Dom," Callen said.

"If I started looking a little bit sooner," Eric said.

"Eric, Dom wouldn't want this. You did what you could with what you had, we all did," Callen replied.

"But we failed," Eric said. Callen agreed, they had failed.

"But not because you weren't here," Callen said.

"You don't know that," Eric said.

"Yeah, I do. We failed because the bad guys were bad. Very bad. And life isn't a computer game, Eric. We don't get second chances, we don't get to replay it," Callen said, adding mentally, no matter how hard or how much you wish for it.

"We should," Eric said.

"I agree, but we don't," Callen said. "Do you really want to miss out on life, locking yourself away here all day and all night?"

"What if..." Eric started.

"What if you're missing out on finding the only girl in LA, or even the continental US, who likes your dress sense and can probably whip you at any game? What if she's out there looking for you, but you're in here, hiding," Callen said.

"You think she might be out there?" Eric asked. Score for Callen, he'd finally broken through.

"You won't know if you don't get out there," Callen said. "So, shall we keep going? Still haven't figured out how to beat you yet," Callen said, feeling that maybe he'd said enough. It took him another three hours to finally beat Eric, though he had a feeling Eric had just gone soft on him. As Eric turned off the computer, he turned to Callen and said, "You can have the couch tonight, I'm going home."

Callen smiled. Two down, two to go.

_Next - Kensi_


	4. Chapter 4 Callen Vs Kensi

_A/N - Thanks again for all the reviews and alerts. Hope you enjoy this next chapter_.

_Disclaimer in Chapter 1_

_**Callen Vs Kensi**_

He hadn't been up for battling Kensi that night, after his 4 a.m. finish with Eric, so he had to wait for the next one. He had a feeling he'd need to be ready for anything. He went back to Kensi's place, leaving the office not long after she had. Hetty had said she was up to eight changes of clothes, and that was a couple of nights ago, now. It was time he stopped Kensi from destroying herself.

He knocked on her door and walked straight in as soon as she opened it, before she had a chance to close the door in his face.

"Going somewhere, Kenz?" he asked. She was dressed up, ready to party. That hadn't taken her long to get ready. He probably shouldn't comment on that, though.

"Out," Kensi replied, reaching for her purse.

"Not tonight, Kenz," Callen said.

She glared at him.

"Get out of my way, Callen, before I hurt you. You know I can do it," Kensi replied.

"I know. But I'm not letting you go out tonight. This has got to stop, Kenz. How many guys have there been already?" Callen asked.

"None of your god damn business," Kensi replied fiercely, moving to the door. He stepped in front of it and leaned against it.

"You think we haven't noticed that you've been wearing stuff from Hetty's wardrobe almost every day?" Callen asked, hoping she would understand he wasn't doing this to mess with her life, just the opposite.

"So?" Kensi replied, still glaring at him.

"Kenz, this isn't you," Callen said.

"Yes, it is. You know I don't do second dates," Kensi replied.

"Yeah, not doing second dates is you, but a different guy every night is not," Callen replied.

"Get out my way, Callen," Kensi replied.

"No," Callen said. "You want a new guy tonight, I'll be it, but we're not going anywhere." He saw it coming, but he didn't move. Kensi swung at him and it landed right on his jaw, hurt like hell, but he didn't move.

"Go to hell, Callen," Kensi said.

"Already there, Kenz. Let's get out of it together," Callen said. He wasn't sure which part of what he said did it, but he was glad for whatever it was. Kensi's tough mask seemed to crumble and the tears started to flow. He pulled her into his arms and she cried. He didn't know for how long, but it didn't matter. He didn't care, just as long as they got their Kensi back. She cried herself to sleep and he put her into bed. He found a blanket on the back of her couch and made himself comfortable. He forgot to put ice on his jaw and when he woke up, he was impressed. Kensi had managed to leave quite an impression.

He left Kensi a note, telling her to take the day off if she wanted, but to call him if she needed anything. He wasn't entirely sure how long it would be before she woke up.

When he arrived at the office, Hetty was there. She took one look at his face and, oddly, smiled.

"Are you going to tell me what happened, Mr. Callen?" Hetty asked.

"Would you believe I walked into a door?" Callen asked, not really wanting to admit that he had provoked Kensi.

Hetty just shook her head.

"Rough game of football?" Callen tried next.

Hetty shook her head again.

"Tell me what you would believe then," Callen said.

"That you should have found some ice in Miss Blye's freezer last night," Hetty said and turned and walked away.

Callen shook his head. He really shouldn't be surprised. Hetty knows all. Now he just had to figure out what to do about Sam.


	5. Chapter 5 Callen Vs Sam

**_Callen vs Sam_**

"Well, that must be a record. It's only 10 a.m. and already Hetty needs to come up with another plausible reason for a new punching bag," Callen said as he watched Sam continue to punch away, not seeming to care that it was already coming apart at the seams.

"Sam," Callen said.

"What?" Sam said, continuing on with the destruction.

"Give it a rest, okay? Talk to me," Callen said, stepping closer to Sam.

"Talk to you? You don't like to talk," Sam said, glancing only briefly at his partner.

"I can listen," Callen replied. Admittedly, maybe not as good as Nate.

"You're not Nate," Sam said.

"Well, since Nate's not here, unless you want to try Hetty, I'm it," Callen said.

"No thanks," Sam said, still punching away.

"Sam!" Callen yelled to get his attention.

"What!" Sam yelled back as he turned around.

"I've had it. This week I've had to play psychologist to everyone. So just tell me what it will take to get you back on track." Callen said, glaring at Sam. He would have thought getting into Sam's head would have been the easiest.

"You? Psychologist? Yeah right," Sam said starting to turn away.

"Sam!" Callen said. Sam turned back.

"I've had to threaten to resign, play computer games until my hands locked up and take a punch from Kensi. What do you need?" Callen asked firmly. "Do you want me to be the punching bag?" Callen glanced at the latest victim to Sam's anger.

"Don't be stupid, G," Sam said.

"I'm not. Tell me what it will take and I'll do it. I can't get into your head, so you'll have to tell me," Callen said.

"Threatened to resign, did you? Why didn't Hetty take you up on it?" Sam said.

"She likes me. You probably shouldn't try it with her, though. She doesn't like you as much," Callen said.

"Punch from Kensi?" Sam asked. Callen could see Sam trying to fight back a smile. Maybe there was an end in sight to this one.

"Don't ask. Don't want another one," Callen said. He could still feel the twinges in his jaw every now and then.

"Computer games?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Wanted my couch back," Callen replied with a shrug. Not to mention complete Intel. "So, what'll it be, Sam?" Callen asked.

"Dom back," Sam said.

Callen looked at Sam wishing he could do that.

"Can't do that one, Sam. Second option," Callen asked.

"It should have been me," Sam said. Callen saw the pain on his partner's face and understood.

"Why, Sam? Why should it have been you? Why not me? I'm the boss," Callen said.

"I was there, he trusted me to get him out," Sam said.

"We all trust each other to watch our backs. Dom was still part of the team. You think that changed in him just because he wasn't around us for a couple of months? He had your back, like we all would have," Callen said.

"We were there to get him out," Sam protested.

"We did, and he knew that. We just couldn't get him all the way out," Callen said.

Sam looked at him, and Callen watched as Sam's shoulders dropped.

"We should have looked harder," Sam said, though his protest wasn't as strong as the previous one.

"We tried, we did. When we had something to go on and even when we didn't. There was nothing else we could have done, Sam," Callen said.

"Yeah, nothing else we could do," Sam echoed, sounding like he believed it. Callen had a feeling that Sam had finally come back.

"So, is this the last punching bag for a while?" Callen asked.

"Yeah, probably," Sam said, glancing at the offending bag, guilt on his face.

"Hetty will be pleased," Callen said with a relieved smile.

"Think I should talk to her?" Sam asked.

"Only if you want to figure out what excuse to use for needing this one replaced," Callen said.

"Guess I'll wait til tomorrow," Sam said as they walked away from the punching bag together.


	6. Chapter 6 Callen Vs Callen

_A/N - So, final chapter. I know it's only short. It felt right to me to end it this way. Hope it doesn't disappoint. Thanks for reading and for all the amazing reviews. _

_Disclaimer in Chapter 1_

_~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o  
_

**_Callen vs Callen  
_**

He came back from his thoughts to a now-empty office. He checked his watch, time for him to head off to Sam's for pizza and beer. It was funny how he had started all this so he could lose it. But now, now that the team wasn't breaking down and falling about, he didn't need to anymore. Because everything he'd said to them, was exactly what he needed said to him. They had done everything they could, they'd followed every lead they had to its very end, but they hadn't managed to save Dom. Find him, yes. Save him, no. They'd been to hell together, they'd climbed out of it together. He didn't want to lose another team member, but resigning would have just expedited the matter; he would have lost all of them that way. Plus, he would have worried about them too much. That, he would never admit to Nate. At least this way, he was still around to watch their backs, just as they would watch his. No one gets a second chance at life, that's what makes it so precious and so important. You don't always get it right, but it's what you do after that that counts. That's what made this team so important. Because they were more than just a team.


End file.
